Wednesday, April 13, 2011

RBOC - Busman's holiday

I sincerely, deeply despise the website for the Worldwide Association of Registered Pseudologists (my primary professional organization). It takes fifteen fucking minutes just to log in, because the website is that poorly designed. For this I have to pay $150 dues each year? I guess it's something to know that our annual fees support the very worst web programming money can buy.

Also, making us register and pre-pay the registration fee for the annual conference just to submit an abstract? Tacky, WARP. You are fucking tacky pieces of crap. I bet the officers on the executive board insist on cash bars at their house parties, too. WTFever.

Part of my irritation with this stuff is that I had to hurry up and do it at the last minute take the opportunity to get it over with while I'm on vacation. I decided to take a few days off to relax and enjoy myself in Vacation City, another locale in Research Country. It's on the ocean, and there are tons of fresh seafood all around, and the weather is beautiful. I find something tonic in being close to the sea. It makes me happy just to walk down the street and see the blue-green expanse along one side.

Know what else makes me happy? Seeing total jerks getting what they deserve. The former authoritarian leader of RC, recently relieved of his position, has now been 'detained' for questioning. It's not possible to use such delicate language for his sons, though: they've both been imprisoned during the corresponding investigation into their dirty business. How about a round from the Singin' Brakeman for them poor fellas locked up in the hoosegow??

3 comments:

...I think I know what sort of pseudologist you are now--because I just decided not to go to a conference when I saw that I had to pay to register for it before submitting an abstract. Not that this was easy to determine from the website...

The ocean! Yes, when I was losing it a few months back our family vacation to visit inlaws in Florida totally got me back on track. Is it warm enough to swim there now? If so, color me very jealous.

I saw the news about Dear Departed Leader getting taken to the hospital after "questioning." This made me think many impolite things about all the people who were "questioned" under his regime, and what condition they usually ended up in. Mmmm-hmmm.

Apparently this kind of stuff is becoming more common. Totally screws over grad students and early career scholars whose funding is limited or nonexistent. One of the organizations I belong to has a special membership rate and conference registration price for people who are early career (within 5 years of a terminal degree). They are surely the exception.

I suspect that many people who are early career people don't attend the conferences of these organizations or perhaps even join these orgizations since they can't afford the membership rates. I know that the costs of several organizations that I was a member of whilst at grad school are were bearable...but now I just have to decide which one I'll join each year.